Municipal preferences for state imposed amalgamations: An empirical study based on the 1952 municipal reform in Sweden

This paper concerns municipal preferences for state imposed municipal amalgamations. The main purpose of the paper is to study what factors that can explain municipal acceptance or objection of a state imposed amalgamation decision. The empirical analysis is based on the extensive municipal reform in Sweden in 1952. As much as 66 percent of the newly formed municipalities had at least one municipality that objected to the new organisation. The results indicate that the size of the municipality is of importance; small and large municipalities are most likely to accept the amalgamation decision. Furthermore, the relative municipal size affects the probability of accepting the amalgamation decision and equally sized municipalities are less likely to amalgamate on a voluntary basis. We also find that interjurisdictional co-operation prior to the reform has a positive effect on the municipal decision to accept the new municipal structure.Local government structure; municipal amalgamations; heterogeneous preferences

Planering samt implementering av en ny lagerlayout för ett importföretag

Syftet med detta slutarbete är att göra en studie inom lagerhantering och lagerplanering, för att sedan implementera en ny lagerlayout med en zonindelningsstrategi för företaget Cape Universal Oy. Studien gjordes på grund av att företaget har ökat sin försäljning drastiskt och behövde utvidga sina lagerutrymmen, för att undvika problem med försenade leveranser, som orsakades av ett för fullt och oorganiserat lager. Problemområdet var Cape Universals lagerutrymmen, som hade blivit efter i utvecklingen av företagets växande materialflöden. Arbetet grundar sig på litteraturstudier och data har insamlats genom observationer och intervjuer. Arbetet förnekas med ett teori kapitel där de mest centrala områden inom lagerhantering och planering presenteras. Kapitlet uppföljs av beskrivning av företagets nuläge och sedan förslaget av den nya lagerlayouten, samt implementeringen av den nya lagerlayouten. Sedan följer ett kapitel där Implementeringsprocessen skrivs. Kapitlet börjar med ett förslag som innehåller exakta zonplaceringar för högfrekventa och relativt högfrekventa produkter. Förslaget har godkänts av företaget ledning och där efter implementerats.The aim for this thesis is to make a study of warehouse management-, activities, planning and implementation of a new warehouse layout for the company Cape Universal Oy. The study was made for the company because of its drastic increase in sales which have resulted in poor inventory performance. The problem was that the warehouse capacity was not enough due to the increasing product volume going through the warehouse. Cape Universal’s warehouse was simply not up to the increased challenge. The thesis has its base on literature studies and data have been collected through interviews and observations. This study contains a theoretical chapter where all the main principals of warehousing activities and warehouse planning are described. The following chapters contain an overview of the present situation, proposal of a new improved warehouse layout and implementation of the layout. The proposal contains exact zone placements for the products with highest frequency as well as zones where the higher frequency products should be placed. The proposal was approved by the company management before the implementation

Human-centredness in customer relationship management implementation research: Towards a holistic perspective

The application of information technology (IT) to marketing through customer relationship management (CRM) software is growing rapidly, but the risk of failure remains high. We argue that research in CRM implementation success should focus more on human-centred issues. In this study we introduce a conceptual framework for a holistic view of humans in CRM and apply the framework to earlier research on CRM implementation. The results indicate that in most CRM approaches the prevailing conception of humans is monistic. The human being is seen as consisting of only one basic mode of being in that humans are conceptualized as objects without any mental and social qualities. We suggest that a more holistic approach to human beings as users of a CRM system would benefit CRM implementation

Wrasse fishery on the Swedish West Coast: towards ecosystem-based management

Fishing and translocation of marine species for use in aquaculture is widespread. Corkwing, goldsinny, and ballan wrasse (Symphodus melops, Ctenolabrus rupestris, and Labrus bergylta) are fished on the Swedish west coast for use as cleaner-fish in Norwegian salmon farms. Here, we aim to provide knowledge and recommendations to support ecosystem-based management for wrasse fisheries in Sweden. We compared fished and non-fished areas to test if current fishery levels have led to stock depletion. To gain insight on the role of wrasse in the algal belt trophic chain, we analysed the gut contents of goldsinny and corkwing using metabarcoding. Finally, we analysed the trophic interactions of wrasse and potential prey in a mesocosm study. We could not detect any signs of stock depletion or altered size structure in fished areas compared to the protected control area. Gut analyses confirmed both goldsinny and corkwing as non-specialized, omnivorous opportunists and revealed, with 189 prey taxa detected, a broader spectrum of prey than previously known. Common prey items included mesoherbivores such as small gastropods and crustaceans, but also insects and algae. We conclude that there are no visible signs of stock depletion at the current removal level of wrasses by the fishery. However, this emerging fishery should be closely monitored for potential cascading effects on the algal belt ecosystem, and our study could provide a baseline for future monitoring

SNX10 gene mutation leading to osteopetrosis with dysfunctional osteoclasts

Acknowledgements We sincerely thank the patients and family members who participated in this study. We would also like to thank Stefan Esher, Umeå University, for help with genealogy, and Anna Westerlund for excellent technical assistance. This work was supported by grants from the FOU, at the Umeå university hospital, and the Medical Faculty at Umeå University. The work at University of Gothenburg was supported by grants from The Swedish Research Council, the Swedish Rheumatism Association, the Royal 80-Year Fund of King Gustav V, ALF/LUA research grant from Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg and the Lundberg Foundation. The work at the University of Gothenburg and the University of Aberdeen was supported by Euroclast, a Marie Curie FP7-People-2013-ITN: # 607446.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The multi-faceted Swedish Heureka forest decision support system: context, functionality, design, and 10 years experiences of its use

For several decades, computerized forest decision support systems (DSS) have helped managers and decision makers to analyze different management options and supported the search for preferred management alternatives. In Sweden, a country rich in forests and with a long tradition in intensive forest management, such systems have been developed and available since the 1970s. Changes in societal as well as in forest owners' preferences and objectives in the 1990s led to a need for forest DSS handling broader perspectives compared to precedent single-objective timber-oriented systems. In Sweden, this led to the initiation of a research programme in the beginning of the 2000s aiming at developing a versatile and multi-objective forest DSS, resulting in the first version of the Heureka forest DSS released in 2009. The system handles several forest values, such as timber and biofuel production, carbon sequestration, dead wood dynamics, habitat for species, recreation and susceptibility to forest damages (spruce bark beetle, wind-throw and root rot). It contains a suite of software for different problem settings and geographical scales and uses simulation as well as optimization techniques. Three software handle projections of the forest using a common core of growth and yield models for simulating forest dynamics. A fourth software, built for multi-criteria decision analysis and including a web-version, enables also group decision making and participatory planning. For more than 10 years, the Heureka system has been used in teaching, environmental analysis, research and as decision support in practical forestry. For example, several research groups using the system for analyses in different problem areas have so far published more than 80 scientific papers. The system is used for nation-wide forest impact analysis for policy support and all large and many medium-sized forest owners use it for their long-term forest planning, meaning that it directly influences forest management decisions and activities on more than 50% of the Swedish forest area. Besides presenting the present system and its use, we also discuss lessons learned and potential future development

Customer perceptions of COVID-19 countermeasures on passenger ships during the pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic devastated substantial portions of the tourism industry; the cruise industry particularly suffered from negative publicity as the virus spread rapidly on cruise ships. The pandemic is a disaster that the industry has been forced to adapt to. This study illustrates, through a mixed-methods research design, what factors cruiseferry operators considered in their responses to the pandemic, whether the implemented countermeasures increased their customers’ sense of security, and what countermeasures customers would agree to follow before boarding a ship. The study thereby provides insights into which countermeasures are likely to decrease customers’ perceived health risks and which they are ready to accept or not on cruises during pandemics.</p

Managing passenger flows for seaborne transportation during COVID-19 pandemic

The ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has negatively affected the cruise and ferry industry as the passenger numbers and revenues have plummeted. Therefore, we developed a holistic approach for mitigating COVID-19 during seaborne transportation in a cost-efficient way by combining behavioural changes, procedural workflows and technical innovations to reset the industry

Dynamic flow synthesis of porous organic cages

The dynamic covalent synthesis of two imine-based porous organic cages was successfully transferred from batch to continuous flow. The same flow reactor was then used to scramble the constituents of these two cages in differing ratios to form cage mixtures. Preparative HPLC purification of one of these mixtures allowed rapid access to a desymmetrised cage molecule.We thank the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) for financial support under the Grants EP/H000925/1 (AIC), EP/K009494/1 (SVL) and EP/M004120/1 (SVL), and Pfizer Worldwide Research & Development (CB). The authors would like to thank EPSRC Dial-a-Molecule Grand Challenge Network (EP/K004840/1) for funding a placement with SVL via the Interdisciplinary Mobility Funding scheme (AGS).This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from RSC via http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C5CC07447